Ranking the 2019 Men’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: #5-8

#1 overall recruit Brendan Burns is a much-needed pickup for Indiana after a wave of graduations. We continue to count down the NCAA's top freshman classes. Archive photo via Jack Spitser/Spitser Photography

We’re continuing our rankings of the top recruiting classes in the men’s NCAA – these swimmers will be starting their freshman seasons in the next month.

Here are a few important notes on our rankings:

The ranking numbers listed for individual recruits are from our Class of 2019 Re-Rank, which was done this past spring. Certainly some of those ranks would change after this summer’s season.

Like most of our rankings, these placements are subjective. Rankings are based on a number of factors, including prospect’s incoming times, team needs filled, prospect’s potential upside, class size, and potential relay impact. Greater weight is placed on known success in short course yards, so foreign swimmers are slightly devalued because of their inexperience in SCY.

Transfers are included, and there are lots of big ones.

For the full list of the 1200+ committed athletes, click here. A big thank-you to SwimSwam’s own Anne Lepesant for compiling that index – without it, rankings like these would be far less comprehensive.

The Trojans went all-in on freestyle with their top recruits, and if that group can mesh with last year’s blue chipper Alexei Sancov (who was a little disappointing as a freshman), the USC relays could reload in a hurry.

In-state prospect Max Saunders(20.3/43.5/1:35.0) is a great get and a very fast riser in the 200 in particular. He should have enormous relay value. The 4×200 relay could get a massive boost between Saunders and Norway’s Truls Wigdel, who projects to be a 200 free monster. Wigdel is 1:48.8 in long course meters and comes down to 50.9 in the 100-meter free. He could be a 1:34/44-type, based on some rough conversions to short course yards. Pair those two with Sancov (1:32 out of high school) and you’ve got the core of a young, talented 800 free relay.

Colombian national Santi Corredoris part of a mass exodus out of the University of Florida, and he shows up at USC with two years of eligibility remaining. He was a 3:44.5 400 IMer for the Gators, and projects as an NCAA invitee with just a marginal improvement there. He’s also 4:18 in the 500 free and 1:45 in the 200 backstroke.

One more semi-international is Jack Kirby, a Barbados record-holder who has been based out of Tennessee in the United States. Kirby has plenty of short course yards experience (47.8/1:45.3 backstrokes, 20.8/44.4 freestyles) and might step in as the go-to backstroker on medley relays now that Patrick Mulcare is graduated.

The rest of the class is still very freestyle-centric. David Mertz, Dominic Margarino and Ivan Puskovitch are all pretty good distance prospects, though developmental. Jan Collazo and Ryan Peterson are solid three-distance sprint freestylers in the relay distances.

Fast riser to watch: Saunders, who cut from 1:40 to 1:35.0 in his 200 free as a high school senior.

#5 Jack Dolanis really a next-level prospect, and has a lot to do with this class’s rank. He’s got near NCAA invite times in the 200 free (1:34.78) and 50 free (19.62), with a solid 100 (43.56) in the middle. That’s not even mentioning a 46.8 butterfly or 47.0/1:42.9 backstroke speed. Arizona State tends to love these tough 200 guys (1:34 Cody Bybee in last year’s class, 1:34.5 Grant House the year before that, now-transferred Cameron Craig the year prior), and Dolan can probably be expected to key in on the 200 free and maybe branch out to the backstrokes or 100 fly/free from there.

Julian Hillout of Florida adds another good 200 free (1:35.1) along with solid 100/500 support (44.5/4:18.8), and he fits the ASU mold well in that mid-distance range. The other really good pickup is Alex Colson, who has had massive improvements down to 47.3/1:45.4 in the butterflys.

Scott Lyonsis a good breaststroke pickup (54.8/2:00.6), and Andrew Gray is solid 200 free depth (1:37.6) in a program that’s done very well with 200-guys. This class might have contended for top-5 status had it included Jarod Arroyo. The Puerto Rican national had verbally committed to this class, but will defer his enrollment until after the 2020 Olympics. Arroyo was a 3:49 IMer who is probably better (4:18) in long course meters.

Fast riser to watch: Colson was 1:46.7/49 in the butterfly races a year ago. Now, he’s 1:45.4/47.3, and looks like much more of a relay weapon with that speed improvement. He’s also taken about a second off of both his 50 and 100 frees and about two off his 200 free, though all of those still need improvements to make NCAA contributions.

The Hoosiers pull in top-ranked recruit Brendan Burns, who is a true do-everything star. 46-low in both the 100 back and 100 fly, Burns is a godsend for a team that has ruled medley relays lately, but graduated some key legs after last season. Burns can probably take over the fly legs of the medleys, and should also be an 800 free relay factor as a 1:34.1 out of high school.

Indiana has also generally had success in the IMs, and Burns could be a prime candidate there. He’s 1:44.8 out of high school, and could have one of the best front halves in all of college swimming. The Hoosiers lost a lot of key components from last year, but Burns should be a plug-and-play contributor as a freshman, which is rare on the men’s side.

Fly and back are the themes of this class. Harry Flanders(47.4/1:46.7) is a good flyer and also a pretty solid IMer. Jake Marcum(1:42.8/48.2) is a very good backstroker, though he’s much more pigeonholed to the 200 at this point. That freshman trio will give IU a lot of stroke options, and could make up the core of the medley relays down the road.

Speaking of relays, Jacob Destrampe (20.4/44.2/1:37.1) is relay depth in waiting, along with Max Scott (20.4/45.6), though Scott is much more of a drop-dead sprinter variety for now. At the other end of the spectrum is Kai Bathurst, a California prospect who goes 1:36.0 in the 200 free and maybe projects best in the 100/200/500 range.

Will Gallant(15:16 in the mile) adds a distance component to a pretty well-rounded class, though it’s a little surprising to see IU not rolling the dice on a breaststroker, considering the rousing success they’ve had in that stroke recently.

Fast riser to watch: Marcum is a very exciting backstroke prospect. He was 1:46.0 in the 200 back as a junior, and dropped 3.2 seconds over his senior year. Add in a 1.5-second drop in the 100 and his future looks pretty bright, especially if he can develop a good third event.

Coach Jack Bauerle‘s pickup of Dillon Downingis especially significant for two reasons: first, he’s arguably the top in-state prospect, and second, he fills an absolutely dire UGA need for a star sprinter.

The Bulldogs have been hurting for a true sprinter for years. While their IMers and stroke specialists have been outstanding, their thin sprint group has consistently kept the relays from accessing the NCAA’s biggest point stockpile. One swimmer can’t fix that all by himself, but Downing is about the best start the Bulldogs could get. 19.68 and 43.63 out of high school, Downing is one of the best two or three pure sprinters in the nation for his class. And he’s shown remarkable improvements, especially to his endurance: Downing went from 1:53 to 1:38 in the 200 free over his senior year, and 45.8 to 43.6 in the 100.

That’s a massive get for Georgia, which also has one of the better backstrokers in the nation in rising senior Javier Acevedo (though he’s redshirting this season) and one of the best butterflyers in rising junior Camden Murphy (not to mention a blue-chip flyer by the name of Urlando coming in next year). Watch out for these relays, the medleys in particular, to rise big-time, though maybe not until next season.

The rest of the class is more classic Georgia. Kentucky’s Zach Hilsis a great fit for Georgia’s IM factory, a 1:46.0 IMer out of high school with 47.6 back speed and a 1:44 in the 200 back. His 200 free (1:36.1) might make him a relay threat there, too. Ian Grumis another in-state prospect, a 15:09 miler, 3:49 IMer and 1:42 200 backstroker who should be an ideal fit in Athens. He’s also a great long course swimmer, and Georgia has been very good at coaching those types of athletes.

Fast riser to watch: Downing, whose progression we mentioned above. What went unsaid there, though, was his 0.6 second drop in the 50 free. Per USA Swimming’s database, it appears Downing took an extended break from swimming between 2013 and 2016, and has just now started to find his footing (and his endurance) in the sport. He has a chance to one of the most impactful swimmers in the NCAA based off his events and improvement curve.

Lot of solid swimmers but no one big star. We’re used to them getting a Whitley, Murphy, Seliskar, Hoffer, etc. That said they are bringing in Hugo Gonzalez who should contend for IM titles if he can get back to his 2018 form.

I think that’s a fair observation. It is a super deep class, though. Last year’s class was really ‘thin’ after Whitley, and this year’s clap is really deep with top-tier talent, so it’s probably exactly what they needed to make sure that their seat in the top 2 of the national standings stays put for a while. In men’s swimming & diving, afterall, to win national titles you need 14+ guys scoring at NCAAs every year these days it feels like.

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26 days ago

Reid

Oh absolutely, I expect this class will end up being much more valuable than last years, which is pretty much just Whitley and then maybe Jhong if he switches to distance free or something. The one major concern is a lack of true sprinters. The way things are looking now Hoffer and Biondi will be their only two 50 guys in two years.

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26 days ago

JP input is too short

How did I forget about Hugo?

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26 days ago

mike_in_dallas

It’s Texas – take it to the bank.
Their recruits will deliver as freshmen. . .
End of transmission.

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26 days ago

JP input is too short

Those all had good classes, but I have a hard time leaving Northwestern completely off this list…

I mean… Mok is like 1:04 in breaststroke. And the other Burdisso is 56 in fly. That’s nowhere near top of the class. We don’t just get to drop names and act like that would have any impact on their ranking

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26 days ago

Reid

Wow that is 100% an oversight. I knew they were getting some good swimmers but seeing it laid out like that it deserves a top 12 ranking for Burdisso and Houseman alone.

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26 days ago

JP input is too short

They got a lot of flyers… in most other classes, you’d take a 54.5/2:02 LCM fly as your top fly recruit, but Dailley is probably their third best in that stroke behind Burdisso and Miller.

Good call on Northwestern. I agree after looking back at my notes that they fit in as an honorable mention – in fact, we went back and included them there. In my mind, Burdisso and Houseman are great recruits, Burdisso one of the best in the class, and Houseman definitely a top-50 guy. Bobar and Dailley are pretty good, but three of those four also have to translate their speed from long course to short course, which is pretty volatile to predict. The rest of the class are great prospects with times that look impressive, but when you compare to how good the rest of these recruiting classes are, I still think they fit best as an honorable mention –… Read more »

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26 days ago

Bruh

100% agree

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26 days ago

Nonrevhoofan

It doesn’t matter what order: DeSorbo’s Cavaliers in the same batch as #1 Texas, #2 Cal and #4 NC State is a major feather in his cap – and an indication of the ascendancy of the Program.

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26 days ago

Matt

1. NC State
2. UVA
3. TX
4. CAL

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26 days ago

John

I agree but NC state should be 2 and UVA should be 3

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26 days ago

Matt

TX and NC State swap spots.

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25 days ago

Swimnerd

Downing over Grum or Bell as the “top state recruit”? Really?

Cmon swimswam

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26 days ago

Superfan

I thought Acevedo was redshirting this year. So no sprint back or sprint breast so not sure of their medleys this year!

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26 days ago

JP input is too short

I feel like Georgia is going to be even more underwhelming this year… only so many points you can score out of 500/1650/400 IM…

Agreed that 18th may be unattainable, but you have to expect Abruzzo to have a better NCAA season this year after his PanAms performances

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26 days ago

JP input is too short

You’d think. I was expecting him to have a better freshman year than he did. Kid’s good at a ton of different things, he just has to find his niche. Maybe he’d be better off aiming toward the 200 back or fly instead of the mile?

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26 days ago

Superfan

Agree, he hit his high school times in Peru.

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26 days ago

Test

There were a few years where they got top 10 off of basically those events + 2 fly.

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26 days ago

Superfan

Those guys were pretty versatile and could fake some decent relays!

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26 days ago

RTR

The state of Georgia’s top recruit might be a toss up between Downing and Bell. Both had tremendous time drops this past year, and will likely both have some amazing freshman swims at SECs and NCAAs. It will be fun to watch them race in the Bama v Georgia meet on October 4, possibly in the same event, maybe in the 50 free and in relays.

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26 days ago

collegeswimmer

Both Grum and Downing had great summers. Grum 1:58 and 55 in backstrokes, Downing 22.7 and 50.1 in free. Not to mention a 1:58 and 53 for Homans in the fly. UGA won’t be the best this year but definitely be rebuilding for the class coming in next year.

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though.
Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …